Rothar Routes

Cycle routes & pilgrim journeys in Ireland and Europe …..

Posts tagged ‘Scotstown’

Half Dozen GAA Moments 2024

End of another great year, and it’s nice to look back. So many great memories, these are a few personal ones from visits to games and grounds across the country! Where would we be without the GAA?

Munster SFC Cork v Kerry, Fitzgerald Stadium

Every visit to Fitzgerald Stadium is full of nostalgia for me; it brings me back to great family holidays in Kerry, a love of Kerry football, Munster Finals with Tommy Wogan and John Owens – sneaking into the Kerry dressing room after one epic battle with Cork in, 1989 (if memory serves me correct), listening to Billy Morgan coming in to congratulate the Kerry Team! Cork started this year’s clash very well and dominated for 50 minutes but fell away in the end. Is there a more picturesque ground than Fitzgerald Stadium?

Ulster SFC Armagh v Down, Tiernach Park, Clones

If Thurles is the spiritual home of hurling, Clones can lay claim to be the spiritual home of football, at least in Ulster. It’s a venue I love attending and I regularly by pass games in Croke Park to head to Clones on Ulster Championship days. This was a tight one – a one point win for the Orchard County, 0-13 to 2-6. Conor Laverty got the most from the Mourne men but Kieran McGeeney’s side showed real glimpses of class in how quickly they transitioned the ball. I was delighted to see Armagh go all the way in 2024, another county I have a soft spot for! Great memories of Armagh v Tyrone in 1989, played in Omagh; it was the day the blond haired Jon Lynch, corner back for Tyrone, got pulled into the Armagh dressing room at half time and got a flew slaps! The Giant Grimley brothers were playing for Armagh, two huge men. The atmosphere was electric and Armagh were well on top in the first half. Maybe the tunnel incident changed the game on its head. The great Kevin McCabe kicked 0-9 that day, 0-6 in the second half. The silky skilled Ciarán Corr bagged a goal for Tyrone. Our own John Owens was in and around the Tyrone panel at that time when he was togging out for The Moy, alongside Plunkett Donaghy.

Team Building Day on the Curragh

A memorable day carrying out team building exercises under the watchful eye of Tom Devereux (087 7052140). Highly recommend it for any team. The players bought into it and gave it everything. Sometimes the journey is as important as the destination! Hopefully the lads will arrive at their destination in 2025!

A packed Dr Cullen Park for Carlow v Wexford

A bit of a chastening experience for our hurlers as they slipped to a heavy loss. A series of unforced errors cost them dearly and as a result they didn’t do themselves justice on this day. But what days the hurlers have given to Carlow GAA in recent years. It’s easy see why when you see the standard of the County Senior Hurling Final this year between St Mullins and Mount Leinster Rangers. Poetry in motion. Warriors.

Scotstown GAA – An Bhoth

I passed by the club over the summer when climbing the Monaghan High Point, Sliabh Beagh (373 meters). Football is a religion in Ulster and Scotstown are currently top of the pile in Monaghan with 9 titles in the past 12 years and 24 altogether. I love the swash buckling style of a team sprinkled with star dust – Darren and Kieran Hughes, Rory Beggan between the posts, Jack McCarron, Conor McCarthy and Shane Carey among others. Uniquely the Club also provided the GAA with a great Uachtarán in Seán McCague (2000-2003) and an equally impressive Director General, Pauric Duffy (2008-2018). You can sense the pride and culture in the club when visiting the Grounds.

A memento from a visit a few years back to Pauric Duffy’s office in Croke Park! Pauric didn’t know why the Green Bay Helmet was in his office and he gave it to me as I was leaving. That brought back more memories of another great occasion in Lambeau Field, with Tommy Wogan in 2007 when we saw the Packers play the Raiders in -24 degrees!

Aidan Forker lifts Sam Maguire Cup for Armagh

I was very privileged to have a ring side seat for the Sam Maguire presentation this year – unbelievable seat! Armagh always bring colour and crowds; a GAA mad county and one I have really strong affinity for stretching back to 1977, the year Dublin beat them in the All Ireland Final. You see Armagh fulfilled a promise and came to Carlow to play our lads. Players like Colm McKinstry, Joe Kernan, Jimmy Smyth, Paddy Moriarty, Jimmy Kerr and Tom McCreesh were heroic figures to me. Years later I was privileged to befriend the greatest coach I know, the late John Morrison. We became very close and spoke almost every day. John would send me his articles that he was preparing for the Ulster Gazette to read and critique. There was nothing I could add to them – he was teaching me. In my experience John was one of the biggest influences on coaching in Gaelic Football.

Kerry SFC Final Dr Crokes v Dingle

A miserable day in Austin Stack Park where Dr Crokes finally got on top of Dingle to run out as fortunate winners by 3-8 to 0-11. It could have been so different if Dingle had taken goals instead of points from three great first half opportunities when they were completely dominant. Fair play though to Pat O Shea, though, he got to grips with the challenge and his side went on to run out deserving winners. Is there an All Ireland Club title there for them in January? Time will tell but I don’t think so.

B.Y.O.B

Bring your own ball!

Slieve Beagh, Co. Monaghan, Ireland’s County High Points

Spent the morning collecting the windfall from our sole pear tree (anyone for pears?) and gathering leaves so it was late enough heading up to Monaghan’s County High Point, Slieve Beagh. You see I thought this would be a doddle on a lovely Saturday evening! How wrong was I!

This climb caught me by surprise; at only 373 metres I reckoned I’d be up and down in no time and back home early. I passed through Clontibret and Scotstown on the way, two great football strongholds and both about to contest the County SFC Final. The amount of flags and bunting was fantastic and it was great to see the Club committees get behind their senior teams so wholeheartedly. They know what it takes. It’s a religion in these parts!

An Bhoth – Scotstown

Starting point is at this electronic gate above Knockatallon. It was 4pm by the time I arrived there and there’s a clear definable trail from here …. for about 200 metres …. and then it’s every explorer for themselves! After that it’s blanket bog all the way to the summit. And very very wet underfoot.

As the map shows, this part of Monaghan juts into counties Fermanagh and Tyrone and is called the ‘Three County Hollow”. It’s very isolated and a true wilderness. Sliabh Beagh is an important mountainous area shared between both jurisdictions. The mountain covers over 3000ha and contains a number of protected area designations: Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI), Ramsar wetland of international importance, National Nature Reserve (NNR) and Natural Heritage Area (NHA), in recognition of its importance for biodiversity.

I didn’t see any grouse but I had plenty of sightings of Snipe, which seem to wait until the very last moment and then suddenly take flight from the dense heather cover. Here’s a lovely drawing, by Eleanor Sutherland, which I saw on the National Parks website about ground nesting birds:

This is spongy bog territory; it’s muddy on the approach trail and then it’s pure heathland which is so difficult to cross. Imagine doing high knee lifts for 5kms with water up to your ankles and the ground trying to suck the boots off your feet!

Because of the absence of a defined trail and a lack of trail markers, it’s essential to have a map, physical or digital and to note the surrounding landmarks. The first landmark was Lough Antraicer on my left shortly after I started out.

As there is no defined route I took a more or less straight line over the crest of a hill, avoiding any bog holes and being especially careful not to twist an ankle or knee in these really difficult underfoot conditions. It’s a barren landscape, almost featureless and devoid of any sign of human habitation. The only sounds are the wind and the song birds. There are no roads and no man made constructions. In its own way it’s beautiful and walking here was a great way to clear the mind and live in the moment.

Knee high in heather, making walking very difficult and progress very slow.

Big sky country. Nothing but bog in all directions.

Finally, the summit. Marked by a solitary wooden post. It was glorious in its simplicity. Just beyond the post is Lough Sallagh, which was hidden from view until I climbed on the small mound at the top. Not far away from here was another lake, Shane Barnagh’s Lough and it has an interesting story. Shane Branagh was an Irish rebel in the 17th century, a bit of Robin Hood man, a highway man who robbed from the rich, the Protestant Ascendancy class and gave to the poor. He hid away in these isolated parts for a long time before finally being captured and brought to Dublin Castle where he was executed. His body was supposedly cast into the Lough of his name…

I was hoping I might pick up a trail when I arrived at the summit that might make the return easier but there was no sign so I turned around and headed back, spotting two hikers in the distance who were coming around the side of the hill that I had struggled over earlier. We exchanged a wave in the distance and they headed for the top. Being much younger and fitter it wasn’t long before they reached it and they quickly followed my path back to the starting point. Turned out the two young ladies, one from Portlaoise and the other from Monaghan, were also doing the County High Point Challenge and this was their 18th Point completed. They had climbed Cuilcagh (Stairway to Heaven), the Cavan High Point, in the morning! It took me about 2 hours to complete this walk and I was glad to finish in daylight as darkness was beginning to close in – I wouldn’t fancy crossing that bog at night!

This was one of the toughest walks I’ve done, even though it wasn’t very high or steep but it was 7kms of pure bog covered in heather. It was hard to pick level ground to plant a foot on and it was full of bog holes and surface water. Lifting a foot was like trying to defy gravity with the bog trying to pull the boots off! Not one I will do again but a great experience and it would be much nicer on a summers day!